Greater New Orleans

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talks about the state of football and the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal during a press conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Friday, February 1, 2013. (Photo by @DavidGrunfeld, Nola.com |The Times-Picayune)
(Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

As New Orleanians know all too well, once NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believes in something he stays committed to it. The commissioner has believed the best way to curb repeat illegal hit offenders is through suspension, and his mind has not changed despite considerable opposition from the NFL Players Association.

“The most effective way of (taking illegal hits on defenseless player out of the game), and I’m not for it because we want to see all of our players on the field, is when they are repeat offenders and they are involved with these dangerous techniques, that we’re going to have to take them off the field,” Goodell said Friday during his annual Super Bowl news conference. “Suspension gets through to them. It gets through on the basis that they don’t want to let their teammates down, and they want to be on the field. We want to see them on the field. We’re going to continue to emphasize the importance of following those rules. When there are violations, we will escalate the discipline.”

Goodell touched on a number of topics during his hour-long session with the media covering Super Bowl 2013 including his continued battles with the NFLPA, the Saints bounty scandal and player conduct but the primary discussions focused on player health and safety.

Player health and safety has been a major issue for Goodell since he took over in 2006, but it has become an even hotter discussion with President Obama raising concerns about safety recently. Players and the NFLPA have complained about excessive fines by the league for illegal hits like helmet-to-helmet contact and players leading with their heads against defenseless players.

Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed, whose team takes on the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s Super Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, has been fined $105,000 this season for illegal hits and suspended for a game as a repeat offender but the suspension was overturned on appeal. Last year Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison received several fines for repeated illegal hits but avoided suspension.

Goodell has found it hard to get suspensions to stick when it comes to repeat illegal hit offenders but he still thinks that is ultimately the way to go to make the game safer and to protect players.

“We are trying to take these techniques out of the game,” he said. “I think it was about four years ago at this very press conference when we said that we have to take these kinds of hits out of the game because we think they have a higher rate of causing injuries.

“I stand by the record because I think we have made those changes and made the game safer. But I think we are going to have to continue to see discipline escalate particularly on repeat offenders.

“It’s not just the defenseless player being protected, it’s the person doing the striking. We see at the end of the day the defenseless player and the defensive player are having a higher injury rate.”

Another emerging issue for Goodell seems to be the care for injured players by their respective teams. NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith produced a poll Thursday indicating 78 percent of his members polled do not trust their team’s medical staff.

Goodell said Friday he was stunned when he heard the numbers a day earlier.

“Last week we met for four hours with NFLPA officials, several players were there, several owners,” Goodell said. “They did raise the issue of making sure the guys have the proper medical attention but they didn’t raise any specifics.

“I’m disappointed because I think we have tremendous medical care for our players. These are not just team doctors. These doctors are affiliated with the best medical institutions in the world. The medical care provided to our players is extraordinary. We will always seek to improve, we will seek to figure out how we can do things better and provide better medical care but I think it’s extraordinary.

“I talk to players, including one yesterday, and they feel the same way but we will have to address that and try to figure out how to improve it.”

Here are a few more of the highlights from Goodell’s session with the media.

On the continued fight with the NFLPA on HGH testing:

“In our Collective Bargaining Agreement two years ago we did agree to HGH testing and as a part of that we agreed to neutral arbitration for cases. We will do that as soon as we reach an agreement on HGH. I hope it be very soon.”

On what is going to help the minority hiring situation after no minority head coaches were hired this offseason and two were fired:

“The Rooney Rule has been very effective, but we have to look at the next generation of the Rooney Rule and what’s going to take us to another level and we are committed to finding that level. That’s going to have to come from having a lot of conversations with a lot of people in this league to find out what is going to be the most effective in allowing our talent to excel. That’s what it is, we want to have the best people in the best possible positions and give everybody that opportunity to do that.

“So we want to get back how do we get to the Rooney Rule or the extension of the Rooney Rule or the new generation of the Rooney Rule that will allow us to do that.”

“There was full compliance with the Rooney Rule. There were in fact, I believe, a record number of interviews but we didn’t have the out outcomes we wanted and the outcomes are we that we have full diversity throughout our coaching ranks, throughout our executive ranks and throughout the league office. It’s very important to the success of the league to do that and we are very committed to finding those solutions.”

On the seemingly continuous litigious relationship between the NFL and the NFLPA:

“What we have to do is get back to focusing on how do we all work together to make the NFL better. I understand we are going to have differences, I understand why there are grievances, I understand why there are lawyers but we have to find solutions in the best interest in the game. That’s my commitment and that’s what we have to work for.”